The No. 6 Anne Arundel Community College men's lacrosse team has earned the third seed in the NJCAA Region XX Tournament, which begins Friday, May 3. The Riverhawks, will look to extend their three-game win streak as they face second seed and defending region champion Howard Community College Friday in the 6:30 pm game hosted by Harford Community College.
The Riverhawks (7-5, 2-2 Region XX) face the Dragons (9-3, 3-1 Region XX), who are coming off back-to-back wins over top-10 opponents. In their regular-season matchup, Howard defeated host Anne Arundel, 23-13, on April 3. The Riverhawks' last victory over the Dragons came as a 12-11 double overtime win at Howard in the 2015 Region XX semifinals.
Anne Arundel was firing on all cylinders in the final three games of the season, outscoring opponents by a combined score of 54-19. Leading the charge was midfielder Caden Cote, who scored 13 of his team-leading 28 goals in the last three games, including a career-high seven against then No. 10 Potomac State on April 27. Cote also leads the Riverhawks with 25 assists and 53 points. He ranks in the top 10 in goals, assists, and points in the region.
Midfielder Ethan Gaeng (22 goals, 21 assists, 43 points), attacker Jordan Kopf (25 goals, four assists, 29 points), and midfielder Stephen Moheiser (25 goals, four assists, 29 points) have bolstered the offense, which averages 14.25 goals per game.
At faceoff X, long pole Chris Greenstein faced off at a 54% clip (133-245) before midfielder Rahsaan Johnson got more reps in the last two games, winning 77% (37-48) in the span, including a 22-29 effort against Potomac State.
Defensive midfielder James Dipietro anchors the defense, leading the team with 25 caused turnovers and leading the defensive corps with 70 groundballs. Close defenders Cameron King (17 CT, 24 GB), and Connor Bittner (4 CT, 8 G) have also helped the Riverhawks to hold opponents to an average of 12 goals per game (-2.25 margin).
Worth noting is that Region XX is arguably the strongest region in the nation, as three of the top-five ranked teams, and five of the top-10 ranked teams all hail from the region.
The Riverhawks to advance to the Region XX finals for the third time in five years. Their last appearance came in 2017 with a 16-6 win over Frederick Community College. AACC lost in the championship to Howard, 21-13.